Device for feeding individual sheets to an office machine, with a magazine for receiving a stack of sheets, with a separating device which catches the first sheet of the stack, with a movably mounted pressure plate which rests against the back of the stack under the action of force and presses it against the separating device, and with a switch which is located behind the pressure plate, controls the device and/or the office machine and is actuated by a part extending through the pressure plate when at least one sheet is present in the magazine.
In a device of this type known from DE-OS No. 27 11 173 the stack of individual sheets stored in the magazine of the device is pressed by a pivotably mounted pressure plate under spring action against a separating device which is constructed as a roller which makes frictional contact with the first sheet of the stack. The separating roller is driven as needed in order to draw the first sheet from the stack and feed it to the platen of the office machine. A microswitch is attached behind the pressure plate in the device which extends with a leaf spring through the pressure plate. The sheet stack resting on the pressure plate forces the leaf spring down, therewith actuating the microswitch. The microswitch controls the device in such a manner that the device can only be put in operation when it is actuated. If there is no longer a sheet in the magazine, the microswitch is no longer actuated and the device is stopped until a new sheet stack is set into the magazine.
In order to set a new sheet stack into the magazine, the pressure plate must be pivoted away from the separating roller against the spring action and must be held in this pivoted-away position. This is cumbersome for the operation. A device of the type initially mentioned is therefore known which provides for a catching of the pressure plate in the position moved away from the separating device in order to be able to easily set a new sheet stack into the magazine. If one forgets to release the catch in this device after the new paper stack has been set in, the switch is actuated be the set stack, so that the device can be put back in operation. However, since the pressure plate is kept in a position pivoted away from the separating device by the catch, the pressure plate does not press the stack against the separating device, so that it does not catch the stack and can not feed a sheet.
The invention has the task of improving a device of the type initially mentioned in such a manner that this device can only be put in operation if not only paper sheets are present in the magazine, but also if it has been established that the pressure plate is pressing these paper sheets against the separating device.